Why You Can't Buy A Car Or Get It Fixed On The 20th Of June

[John Thomas8]

Somebody opened an e-mail they shouldn't have and clicked a link to malware. Idiotic end-user. Then it wasn't cleaned up properly.

[sugar magnolia]

My son is laughing his ass off right now. Saturday was his last day as the customer satisfaction manager at a dealership here, to take another job at a logistics trucking company. They're already calling him about coming back and throwing big numbers at him, in a complete panic. Not a chance in hell, he says. He'll be working m-f with more pay and better hours.

[Suranis]

I bet the people who run the servers at that computer company are low paid and treated like shit too.

[John Thomas8]

Multiple posts across various car subreddits indicate this isn't going to be solved anytime soon. Monday maybe? Next Friday?

Pretty much a complete mess.

[chancery]

Alas, another reason to procrastinate on the odious chore of shopping for a new car.

(Not sure if "on" is the correct preposition here, but I can't think of a better one. Suggestions welcome.)

[keith]

Alas, another reason to procrastinate on the odious chore of shopping for a new car.

(Not sure if "on" is the correct preposition here, but I can't think of a better one. Suggestions welcome.)

The systems development mantra used to be (when I was in active development service): IDENTIFY AND ELIMINATE SINGLE POINTS OF FAILURE.

This is a prime example of why. There should not be ONE system for all eleventybazillion dealers. Its stupid. And how many other industries have essentially monopoly control of over their essential platforms like this.

[Suranis]

Relevant

https://xkcd.com/2347/

[John Thomas8]

A bit more on why this matters:

https://www.msn.com/en-ca/money/compani ... ngNewsSerp

Finney did not respond to questions on how many dealerships were impacted, but CDK’s website says the company works with more than 15,000 retail locations across North America.

[MN-Skeptic]

This is a prime example of why. There should not be ONE system for all eleventybazillion dealers. Its stupid. And how many other industries have essentially monopoly control of over their essential platforms like this.

But who's going to develop a competing software program when an obviously popular program already owns the market? I would wager, too, that all Toyota dealerships own the same program as other Toyota dealerships and all Chevrolet dealerships own the same program as other Chevrolet dealerships, etc. How can a new program break into an established market? And I dare you to go to the users of your current program and tell them they all have to learn a new, different program!

[John Thomas8]

From what I've gathered reading those posts there's between 3 and 7 different programs other than CDK, not so widely used, that are preventing a complete shutdown of all dealerships.

[Foggy]

We bought a new Civic for Numbah One Son several weeks ago, but they didn't have the model/color he wanted on the lot, so they got one from a dealership 70 miles away.

It came without the user manuals, and it has been a nightmare trying to get them to give us the manuals. They gave us the wrong manuals once already.

Now they're saying this software shutdown is preventing them from giving us the right manuals.

[RTH10260]

A manual Isn't a personal conveyance not used in commerce simply a turn-the-key device

[John Thomas8]

Tales are being told of younger car salesmen having to learn how to write up sales contracts and do maths by hand.

I'm quietly giggling.

[Foggy]

A manual Isn't a personal conveyance not used in commerce simply a turn-the-key device

Today you need 6 manuals for the software alone.

[RTH10260]

Including all those pages marked "left intentionally blank"

[Volkonski]

A manual Isn't a personal conveyance not used in commerce simply a turn-the-key device

Today you need 6 manuals for the software alone.

Yep!

[Shizzle Popped]

The manuals that came with my Outback nearly filled the glovebox. They're on a shelf in the office now. However, with all the features and electronics in today's cars you really do need to at least partly RTFM (Read The F***ing Manual).

[MN-Skeptic]

I have always found it difficult to find what I'm looking for in the printed owner's manuals for our cars which is why I've loved that you can download the manual in a searchable pdf format. I've put the pdf files on my iPhone so I have that available when I'm away from my laptop.

[qbawl]

[neonzx]

I have not purchased a new-new car since 2018.
I'm surprised they have not switched to a wimpy getting started pamphlet and pointing owners to online manuals.

[raison de arizona]

Indeed, my most recent vehicle purchase came with a thin book that instructed me on how to install the app where I could read the owner's manual.

[MN-Skeptic]

The 24-page paper copy of my 2017 Hyundai Santa Fe Sport's Quick Reference Guide includes QR codes which will take you to online videos which provide further explanations and demonstrations of what that section of the quick reference is touching on.

[northland10]

I have always found it difficult to find what I'm looking for in the printed owner's manuals for our cars which is why I've loved that you can download the manual in a searchable pdf format. I've put the pdf files on my iPhone so I have that available when I'm away from my laptop.

A slightly used Ford Ranger pickup I bought years ago was missing the manual. I downloaded one.

My current vehicle has one but most of the useful info I needed was easier to find online.

[Maybenaut]

I have not purchased a new-new car since 2018.
I'm surprised they have not switched to a wimpy getting started pamphlet and pointing owners to online manuals.

My Mustang Mach E manual is digital. I can call it up on the touch screen in my car. The problem is it’ll have a set of complex instructions to do the thing I want to do, and when I navigate away from it to the screen where I need to do the thing, I’ll lose the manual and have to call it back up and search the instructions again.

It’s easier to call the manual up on my phone.

[bill_g]

I'm waiting for cars to catch up with other equipment.

For the last two decades increasingly telecom and networking equipment mfgs built a single form factor with all the hardware, jacks, ports, buttons, etc. You bought the base model, and enabled the features / functions you wanted through purchased non-transferable entitlements. You either connected the device to the internet so the OEM could do it remotely, or they sent you an email with long strings of characters you C&P'd into the appropriate fields of the device configuration GUI. It lowered OEM costs because they only had to build one or two product families. It also enhanced the customer experience too. An upgrade could be purchased in the future as the need arose.